Barb19

I have recently read about a company that picks up your luggage the night before you travel to Bergen on the Norway in a Nutshell tour and delivers it to your hotel. This would be most convenient. Has anyone done this and can you tell me the particulars? Also, has anyone used a tour company in Norway that they have been pleased with?

You guys have been most helpful in the planning of my trip.

Surfergirl

You can use the NSB Express Service, which is located at Oslo Central station. Check out www.nsb.no for information. They do NOT have this service on Sundays and also sometime not on Saturdays either. It's the Norwegian rail service that handles this.

Do check out their hours as well. They are NOT open before 9:00 a.m. so if you are thinking you will have them do this by going to the station (as opposed to them coming to your hotel) that morning, they won't be open, because the train leaves at 8:00 a.m.

We discovered this wrinkle by falling into the problem ourselves. We arrived in Oslo by overnight train and were proceeding through to Bergen via Nutshell that morning, and nothing in the station (by way of luggage) was open. Fortunately, we were returning to Oslo the following day and had the foresight to have plan "B": we had daypacks with a day and night's worth of clothing and personals, and stowed our luggage in the HUGE clean luggage lockers (open 24 hrs/day) at Oslo S., very close to the track where you take the Signatur train.

Andeesue

Surfergirl,
Thanks for the info about the luggage lockers at the Oslo station. We, too, are doing the Nutshell as you did. Do you recall if there is a time limit on how long one can rent the lockers? We plan on 2 nights before we return to Oslo. Could manage taking our luggage,but would be much more enjoyable to take a small bag and leave the rollaway in storage with all the on and off different modes of transport those days.

Surfergirl

There is not a time limit on the luggage (at least for 7 days). It's kind of interesting the way they do it. Each locker has an electronic timer, so when you return, it will tell you how much you need to insert to retrieve your luggage. For example, we left our luggage at around 7:30 a.m.; the train we took back from Bergen at 1:00 p.m. left really late, then was repeatedly delayed on route back to Oslo. We didn't get in to Oslo until nearly 11 p.m. So it was nearly 2 days, and we paid for that amount of time. It was not expensive, but I don't recall how much off hand, and you can get change to insert (we had 2 storage lockers with a ton of luggage).

A number of people did take their luggage with them. It didn't look that easy on the Flam train, but there was plenty of room on the boat. The bus also handily stored luggage, as did the train from Voss. I was glad, though that we just had the small back packs, even though we forgot our swim suits and the hotel we stayed at in Bergen had a great indoor pool.

Philip

Please make sure I understand:

We are taking Nutshell Monday morning ~ therefore, since Nutshell leaves before baggage service opens and they will not pick up Sunday night, we have to carry luggage on train, boat, bus, etc. We are not coming back through Oslo by train (plane).

Does anybody know of a convenient way of getting luggage from Oslo to Bergen?

Thanks!

Surfergirl

Philip, I think you only have 2 choices -- if to have NSB express pick up your luggage during a time they are available to pick it up, while keeping enough clothes etc. for you to manage the 1 or 2 days without the luggage in a daypackor duffel bag; OR taking the luggage with you, as many people do. If you have luggage with wheels, it it not as awful as you might think. If you have a steamer trunk or some other backbreaking piece of luggage, it might be as awful as you think!